


Tilt at All I Meet

by Mara



Category: Kamen Rider Build
Genre: Alternate Universe - Romance Novel, Friends to Lovers, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-16
Updated: 2018-02-15
Packaged: 2019-03-19 07:59:20
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 2
Words: 8,693
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13700250
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mara/pseuds/Mara
Summary: Sento may have followed his college sweetheart to grad school only to get dumped his first day there, but that won't stop him from exploring his new life. Things start looking up when he meets Ryuuga, who's mysterious, grouchy, hot—and possibly not gay.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> For my own mental health, I needed to write a romance novel AU and I couldn't wait for the Unconventional Courtship challenge to come around again. So, this fic is based on the plot summary of _Getting Him Back_ by KA Mitchell. However, I decided to age up the characters from the original book, where they were college freshmen, because that was just too young for me to play with in this way.
> 
> Thank you to Revieloutionne, Tigger, and Frito_KAL (who came all the way from another fandom) for helping me fill in some plot holes!

Sento leaned against the wall outside the campus coffee shop, trying to not feel like the most pathetic loser for miles around. But honestly, since he _was_ the most pathetic loser, it was difficult to do. 

It was time to move. He had to get out of here before Soichi got off work and found him still moping around.

He had to leave before Soichi found Sento still hoping it was all a joke. Hoping they were still a couple. That dating through the last two years of Sento's undergraduate career meant something and Soichi hadn't just been using him the whole time.

He'd come here for grad school instead of taking the better scholarship just because Soichi was here. He'd thought…he'd thought they were going to get married. But Soichi dumped him in the middle of a work shift. Told him it was too much trouble to stay together and went right back to work like all that time was nothing. Like all the energy Sento had put into the relationship was nothing.

Sento swallowed back his tears and took a breath. He needed to leave. Now.

He got the energy to take a step forward just as someone barreled around the corner and the two of them nearly fell to the ground. Sento only had a glimpse of a face before the other muttered "sorry" and went through the door.

Well. That…was certainly something. Frowning in confusion, Sento walked away, determined to make the most of grad school and get on with having a life after Soichi.

* * *

A week later, Sento was hurrying between the business and architecture buildings, having found a shortcut to the physics building that would get him to his latest experiment just that much sooner. Face buried in a book, he didn't notice someone hurtling in the opposite direction until they met in the middle (in what might have been an example of Newton's second law of motion if Sento had had the wit to think about it) and their momentum sent them sprawling off the thin strip of sidewalk into a pile of powdery mulch.

Groaning, Sento pulled himself up to sitting and glanced over at the force that had interrupted his momentum, who was also just sitting up and glaring at him. Wait…

"You!" Sento said, pointing and blinking in astonishment.

"Me? You're the one who was walking and reading." 

"Not last time." Sento was still pointing, groping for the words.

"Last time." The other man stood, brushing mulch off his jeans and the jacket he had tied around his waist. He reached down to grab his bag and phone. "Sure. Whatever."

"I mean the last time you knocked me over. Or almost knocked me over," Sento said, to be fair. "In front of Café Nascita."

Pausing, the other turned and looked at him more closely. "The first day of classes," he said slowly.

"Yeah." Sento shook his head. "I guess we're destined to literally run into each other." Standing, he held out his hand. "Sento Kiryuu."

The other boy stared at his hand for much longer than was polite before finally shaking it. "Ryuuga Banjou."

Now that he had a moment to actually look at him, Sento realized that Ryuuga was cute. Really cute, actually. Terrible taste in clothing, but he had these funky braids in his hair, which were adorable. "Hi, Ryuuga, it—"

Snatching his hand back, Ryuuga stared over Sento's shoulder. "I've gotta get to class," he said quickly, striding off.

"It was nice to meet you," Sento said to the retreating back.

And oddly, it sort of _had_ been nice. Amused at himself, Sento gathered his own belongings and jogged off to the lab. Clearly he needed to get laid if he was getting like this over some rude guy who walked too fast. 

It seemed like forever since he'd had to look for a date, since…he stopped that thought in its tracks. Sento took a deep breath as he ran up the steps and between the white columns into the building. 

Sento knew he was attractive, if for no other reason than because of the men and women who had approached him even when he was dating Soichi. But Soichi hated when he flirted. Well, he'd hated it when Sento even talked to other people, so he was out of practice with the whole scene.

With a firm nod, Sento decided it was time to pick up one of the cute guys he always saw hanging around when he and his fellow students went to get a drink. 

He came through the lab door just in time to grab a labcoat thrown at him by his lab partner and new friend. "Yo!" Misora called. "You're late. Don't leave all the work for me."

Sento settled down with a smile at her.

* * *

A few nights later, Sento congratulated himself on his choice as his bar pickup kissed his way down Sento's chest, short beard tickling and scratching in an extremely enticing way. 

Sento hadn't met the other man before that night, but he'd arrived at the bar with a couple of other grad students Sento knew, so presumably Gentoku was in another science department. Sento thought it might be chemistry. Or biology. But it turned out he was extremely good in bed, so there was that going for him.

Dexterous fingers had his pants unbuttoned before he'd even caught his breath and Sento's back arched at the first touch to his dick. Damn, this guy was moving fast but it felt _so good_ to be touched again. It felt good to have someone pay attention to his desires, to his needs. Soichi had—

"You're thinking too much," Gentoku said, sliding back up Sento's body and making him gasp as the friction hit all the right places. "I'll have to distract you more."

Sento moaned and clutched at warm shoulders as Gentoku proceeded to do just that.

Pleasantly worn out some time later, Sento lay on the bed catching his breath. His eyes drooped as he thought about his latest experiment and he yawned.

"It was good for me too," Gentoku murmured.

Oh. Right. He was still here. Sento hummed quietly. It had been a long while since he'd done the casual thing, so he wasn't quite sure what happened in this part.

"So, when can I see you again?"

Sento blinked, turning his head slightly. The room was dim but there was enough light to see Gentoku's intent expression. "Er…" Sento said after the silence had gone on a little too long. "I said I wasn't looking for anything serious."

"Give me a chance to change your mind."

"I don't want to." Frowning, Sento wondered if this had been a bad idea. "I've had a bad breakup and I just want to focus on school."

Gentoku raised an eyebrow. "I see." Moving slowly, he rose off the bed, clearly making sure Sento had a good look at his body, which, okay, was excellent. But still. "Just think about it, okay?"

"Um…yeah."

Sento did sneak a peek at Gentoku's abs as he pulled on his clothing. But it was purely aesthetic appreciation.

* * *

The weird thing was that even after some damn good sex, Sento found himself wondering about the weird guy he'd run into twice. He seemed to see the guy everywhere now—on the other side of the quad, coming out of the library, eating a sandwich on a bench—and there was just something about him. Something intense. Something that made Sento want to know more.

He and Sawa (who ran the school newspaper with an iron fist) were on their way to the student union when Ryuuga emerged from a building in front of them. Sento gestured in that direction. "Hey, you know him?"

Sawa looked up from her phone. "Hmm?"

"The guy in plaid with the black t-shirt."

Squinting, she said, "Oh yeah, I couldn't miss clothing that hideous. Hmm. Last name Banjou. Getting a degree in kinesiology. Um, he was involved with some sport." Fingernails tapping on her phone, she scowled. "There's something there, but I don't remember what."

"Never mind, it's not that important," Sento said quickly as he watched Ryuuga stomp past the student union toward a parking lot.

She gave him a dubious look, but didn't ask more.

As they kept walking, Sento did some quick calculations based on when he'd seen Ryuuga over the past few days and he grinned. Predictability was so useful.

Sawa side-eyed him. "What are you up to?"

"Nothing." He turned down the path to his topology seminar. "Talk to you later!" He was halfway down the sidewalk when he thought he heard someone behind him. Did Sawa come after him? He turned, but there was nobody there. "Huh."

With a head shake, Sento went back to considering the week's reading in homeomorphisms.

* * *

Sento's calculations were, of course, perfect, and it was the following day that Sento rounded a corner just as Ryuuga was coming in the opposite direction. Since this time it was planned (on one side, at least), they didn't go crashing to the ground, but Ryuuga did reel back in surprise. "You?"

"Hey, I said we were destined to run into each other, right?"

"Yeah," Ryuuga said, sounding (understandably) dubious.

"So maybe we're meant to be friends!" Sento grinned at him.

"Look. That's…nice." Ryuuga shook his head. "But I just want to pass my classes and get my bachelor's degree."

"Wait, you're an undergrad?" Sento almost took a step back. From what Sawa had said, he'd just assumed grad student.

"I'm in my last semester. I've got a few more courses to take," Ryuuga muttered, looking away. "It's, uh, taking me a while to finish. So I’m older than most undergrads."

Sento nodded, trying to imagine what it was like to take _longer_ to finish a degree and couldn't quite manage it. "I'm…younger than most grad students," he said. "I kind of fast-tracked through my undergrad physics program to get to the PhD level faster."

Ryuuga stared at him. "Physics?" He rubbed the back of his head. "That's what I'm worst at. Science, I mean."

"Are you taking a science class now?" Sento brightened.

Pausing to eye him with suspicion, Ryuuga finally nodded. "Yeah, I need three more science credits that aren't kinesiology, so I signed up for astronomy."

"Excellent!" Sento beamed at him. "Astronomy is mostly physics. It's not my specialty, but I have a solid grounding. I'll tutor you!"

Blinking, Ryuuga stared at him. "What?"

"I'll get you through this class in no time. You'll love astronomy when I'm done with you."

"No, really, you don't have—"

Clapping Ryuuga on the shoulder, Sento grinned at him. "Of course I do, my honor as a physicist is on the line, after all. Are you free Wednesday evening?"

"I…but…" Ryuuga's expression seemed to be moving between horror and fascination.

"Is that a yes?"

"Uh…yes?"

"Great, 7 pm, then? I'll come to your place. I'll even bring pizza."

* * *

By 7:45 pm on Wednesday, Sento was finding the whole experience surreal. He'd shown up (with pizza) prepared to flirt and either tutor Ryuuga or make out with him depending on how Ryuuga reacted.

But Ryuuga didn't react in any of the ways he expected. He didn't pull back the way straight guys did when Sento leaned too close, or smile and push him back the way gay guys did if they weren't interested, or lean closer the way guys who were interested did. He didn't seem to _notice_ that he was being flirted with.

At least, he didn't seem to notice except…except for the way he looked at Sento when he thought Sento wasn't looking. The way he looked slightly surprised that someone would want to spend time with him.

Ryuuga was a puzzle and Sento _loved_ puzzles. With a mental shrug, he dialed back the flirting and kept tutoring Ryuuga to pass his astronomy class.

Sento sighed and started over on his explanation of the origin of planets, keeping an eye on the notes Ryuuga made to make sure he was understanding things.

The good news was that it was going to take a lot of tutoring to get him through, which gave Sento time to solve the puzzle. The bad news was that it was going to take a _lot_ of tutoring.

* * *

Tutoring in astronomy quickly turned to tutoring, dinners, and hanging out with Sento's friends. Ryuuga shrugged when asked about his own friends and said that most had graduated and left the area, while the rest had drifted away.

Okay, Sento spent more time than was entirely healthy thinking about getting Ryuuga into bed, but he'd basically resigned himself that it wasn't going to happen. Mostly. Besides, he was enjoying being Ryuuga's friend.

"Why are you doing this?" Ryuuga asked on hour two and a half of studying for his first astronomy exam.

Sento shrugged. "Because we're friends."

"We are?"

"Whether you like it or not." Sento elbowed him in the side. "Now stop avoiding the next question. The orbit of…"

* * *

Sento yawned and rolled onto his stomach, brushing grass off the back of his head and trying to focus on the journal article he was reading. Normally he'd have been enthralled, but this author needed to work on both his prose and his lab technique. Sento already had found half a dozen errors in the method and the grammar (and in one case both) and he was getting bored.

"Stop that," Ryuuga said, poking at Sento's stomach with the toe of his shoe. "How can I concentrate with you writhing and groaning like that?"

"I'm not writhing or groaning." Sento tilted his head back to see Ryuuga, who was sitting on the bench on the quad behind him. "Besides, how am I more distracting than the volleyball game over there?" He pointed at the two teams of scantily dressed women. Even Sento had to admit they were attractive and he was as gay as the day was long.

Ryuuga just grunted and went back to scowling at his copy of _Motor Learning and Performance_.

Sento tried to decide what that was a sign of. Stretching out, he put the article down on the grass and stood, rummaging in his pocket. "I'm gonna duck into Meyerhoff and grab a coffee. Do you want something?"

Ryuuga didn't look up. "Nah."

A voice from behind Sento said, "You could come have a coffee with me instead."

Sento whirled, surprised to see Gentoku standing much too close behind him. "Uh…" He'd received several texts from Gentoku in the past few weeks, responding to the first two to say 'no thanks' and simply ignoring the rest. 

Without warning, Gentoku leaned over and kissed him on the lips. "Let's go have coffee. I've missed you."

"No." Sento shook his head. "Um, thank you, but no. I'm not—"

Gentoku smirked at him, clearly amused by his flustered reaction. "Tomorrow, then," he said as he strolled away.

For a long moment, Sento just stood in place, staring after Gentoku as he walked away. Suddenly he remembered Ryuuga, but when he turned, the other man was very obviously and carefully looking past Sento.

"Um…" Sento said.

Ryuuga looked up at him, expression unreadable.

"We're not…uh, he and I, we're not...it was one time. A few weeks ago." He felt his face get warm.

"Hmm. Well, you might want to tell the guy in front of Kahler Hall that, because he's giving you the evil eye." Ryuuga gestured with his chin.

Sento turned and immediately saw who Ryuuga was talking about. The young man pushed his glasses up his nose as he glared across the way at them. He looked familiar. He… "Oh! He came to the bar with Gentoku."

"Looks like you slept with someone's boyfriend," Ryuuga said.

"But they weren't dating. Gentoku said he was single and that guy was right there and he didn't say anything." 

Shaking his head, Ryuuga picked his book up without saying another word.

Sento slumped back to the ground. How did he always get involved in such drama? This must be his punishment for the way he'd bothered Ryuuga or something. "I need Sawa," he muttered.

"Hmm?"

"She's the only one around here who actually understands people. Must be a journalism thing. Maybe she can explain."

"Explain what?"

Sento sighed, leaning against the bench next to Ryuuga. "Never mind."

* * *

Misora slouched across the quad half an hour later. "Dinner," she said, planting her feet in front of Sento. "Feed me."

Ryuuga groaned. "Did you forget to eat lunch again?"

Looking off into space, she considered the question. "Which day?"

Sento stood, sighing. "C'mon, let's get you some food and sleep."

"Tired," she agreed, nodding.

Ryuuga grabbed one arm and Sento the other and they maneuvered her into Ryuuga's car and back to tiny efficiency apartment, which was the closest. She managed a bowl of soup and then collapsed onto his bed.

"Where am I supposed to sleep tonight?" he said, waving a hand at her sprawled and sleeping body.

Sento almost choked holding back the words 'in _my_ bed!' For a moment, he had a vision clear as day of stripping Ryuuga's clothing and licking all those gorgeous muscles he got glimpses of now and then. Sento was grateful he was standing on the other side of a counter so Ryuuga didn't see anything inappropriate.

Still grumbling and not noticing Sento's distraction, Ryuuga grabbed a blanket off the back of a chair. "Go home. I'll sleep on the floor and feed her again when she wakes up."

For all his grumpy tone, the look on Ryuuga's face as he looked at Misora was fond and Sento felt a tug in his chest. He wanted that expression turned on himself, damn it. Breathing in and out twice, Sento nodded. "Sure. Thanks for taking care of her."

* * *

Sento spent most of the following day holed up in the lab since Misora was out of commission and their supervising postdoc was out of town presenting at a conference. Sento did remember to eat breakfast…at around 2 pm. And he ate lunch at 5:45. But he shut down his laptop at 7:30 and decided to call it a day.

Stretching, he grabbed his stuff and jogged down the stairwell to the side door. With the ease of weeks of practice, he pushed it open with his butt as he finished stuffing his laptop into his backpack. 

He skidded to a halt when he saw someone sitting on the steps in front of him, leaning against a column. "You…"

Gentoku smiled at him. "I thought you would be out a little earlier, but then, you didn't know I was waiting, so that's fine."

Sento blinked. "Huh?"

"I said tomorrow. So I thought we could go have a late dinner."

Sento gaped at him. The man simply could not take a hint. "I—"

They both turned as the door behind Sento opened and another grad student almost ran Sento over on his way out of the building. "Hey, Sento," Momo said, looking curiously at Gentoku. 

"Hi," Gentoku said, stepping forward. "I'm Sento's friend Gentoku. Nice to meet you."

Momo shook Gentoku's hand with a slightly confused look. "Nice to meet you," he replied. "Um, Sento, can you take my section next Friday? My girlfriend's coming and she really wanted us to take a three-day weekend."

"Sure, no problem." Sento slipped his phone out and made a note.

"Thanks. You're a pal!" Momo waved as he jogged down the steps and off into the dusk.

"You certainly are," Gentoku said into Sento's ear. "Now how about that dinner?"

Sento jumped, nearly dropping his backpack in his alarm, and taking a long step backward to get some space. "I'm flattered, really, but I'm not interested. Look, what about your friend with the glasses?"

"Utsumi?" Gentoku said. "What about him?"

"I saw the way he was looking at me yesterday. I'm sure you'll have more luck with him." Hitching his bag on his shoulder, Sento shrugged. "I'm sorry if you feel like I led you on, but I really don't need the complication of a boyfriend right now."

Before Gentoku could respond, Sento was heading down the steps and toward his apartment.

* * *

Glancing at the time in the corner of the screen, Sento cursed under his breath. He only had an hour until he had to teach his noon Intro to Physics section and he hadn't made copies of the materials yet. He gave his laptop one last longing look and dashed to the department office in the hopes the copier would be free.

Twenty minutes later, laden down with stapled and collated packets about mechanics and waves, Sento dropped back into his chair and looked with surprise at a six-pack of celery soda on his desk next to his computer. "Huh," he said. Misora must have remembered how much he liked it and how difficult it was to find. That was sweet, he thought with a grin.

He dropped his stack of papers on the chair next to him and the breeze blew the edges of a piece of paper that had been hiding under the soda. Sento frowned, picking it up.

"Thinking of you—Gentoku."

Sento blinked and stared at the soda. How had he known—wait! Looking around, he leaped out of his chair and started searching the lab to make sure Gentoku wasn't hiding in here or something.

When he was sure the lab was clear, he sat back down and stared at the soda. When he'd thought it was Misora who'd left it, it was sweet. But now…ugh.

* * *

When Sento strolled in to Saucony's Pizza a few days later, Ryuuga had an unusually broad smile on his face. He was looking down at his phone and Sento grinned as he dropped into the seat opposite him. "What? Did Sawa finally agree to sext with you?"

Ryuuga gave him a withering glare. "You're ridiculous."

"I try." Sento nodded thanks as the waitress brought his usual root beer. "So, what are you smiling at?"

"Nothing." Ryuuga scowled at him. "Look, your veggie pizza is coming."

"Don't change the subject," Sento said. "What is it? The weather report? Stock market boom? Someone sent a picture of a bunny with a pancake on its head?"

"There's nothing wrong with a bunny with a pancake on its head," Ryuuga muttered. "Ugh, you're so annoying."

"So?"

"Fine. It's the grade on my astronomy exam." He shoved half a slice of double meat and pineapple pizza into his mouth.

Sento stared at him. "And?"

"I got an 88," Ryuuga said, looking down. 

Sento whooped loud enough for nearby tables to stare at him. "I knew you could do it!"

"So…uh. Thanks." Ryuuga didn't look at Sento, but he squirmed in his seat.

Sento took a slice of his own pizza, fighting a ridiculous wash of pride. "Next time it'll be an A."

Ryuuga sighed glumly, staring at his place. "I _knew_ you'd say that."

"Only because I know you can handle it. C'mon, it'll be fun!" Sento sat up. "Ooooh, next you're probably going to cover—"

"Please. Can we not talk school over dinner?"

"Fine. Can I tell you about Misora's prat fall down the hallway this afternoon?"

Ryuuga grinned. "Absolutely."

* * *

Despite many distractions, the Gentoku situation clearly had gotten to Sento's brain, especially after he got two more texts and a pair of _socks_ of all things on his desk.

Sento had developed an itch on the back of his neck as if someone was staring at him, but when he turned, nobody was there.

"Dude!" Ryuuga said as Sento whirled to look behind them at the med school building and nearly knocked Ryuuga over.

"Sorry. I just…" There were lots of people around, but nobody he knew. Nobody who seemed to be staring at him. Sento scratched the back of his head. "I thought I heard someone call my name."

Ryuuga scowled, but let it go.

Sento slung an arm around Ryuuga's shoulders. "C'mon, let's go get ramen. I don't think I can face advanced electrodynamics without ramen."

"How can you face it at all?" Ryuuga said with a snort.

But he didn't shrug Sento's arm off until they were halfway up the hill and Sento counted that as a win.

* * *

Sawa appeared in the lab one evening as Misora and Sento were trying to patch together a cracked flywheel, in the hopes they could salvage it until the replacement arrived. Heads together under a table, they both barely registered the sound of someone entering the room, until Sawa chuckled.

"Y'know, if I didn't know better, I'd wonder what you two were doing down there."

Sento grunted as he turned the clamp he was holding another half turn just as Misora yanked a finger out of the way. "Very funny," he called to Sawa.

"Are you coming out or do I have to get down there too?"

"Stay put," Misora called. "It's filthy under here and I'll bet you're wearing a skirt."

"No bets," Sawa said. "But are you coming out?"

Very slowly, Sento and Misora took their hands off the flywheel and inspected the work. "What do you think?" he asked.

"Hmm." She frowned. "I think we're coming out," she called to Sawa.

Sento emerged to find Sawa seated on the ratty lab couch, tapping away on her phone. "What's up?" he asked.

"You two have been in here too long."

Misora picked up a can of soda and took a long drink. "You don't usually play mommy." Grabbing her stuffed penguin, she dropped onto the couch beside Sawa.

Sawa sighed, then looked up at Sento. "Well, also Ryuuga said you've been acting weird."

"Weird?"

"Jumpy."

Misora scowled. "He's right. You have been jumpy."

"Maybe a little." He shrugged, turning to scribble some notes down before he forgot about them.

"Why?" Sawa asked.

Head still in his numbers, it took Sento a moment to register she was asking him a question. "Huh?"

"Why have you been jumpy?" 

Sento sighed. "It's this one guy who won't leave me alone. It's getting on my nerves."

Sawa and Misora exchanged glances. "Ah," Sawa said.

"The guy you had a one-night stand with," Misora said.

Sento winced, not looking either of them in the eye. "Yeah."

"Tell us," Sawa said.

With a sigh, Sento slumped in his chair and related the entire tale. It was kind of nice to get it off his chest, but they didn't come to any conclusions other than 'be firm and stop being nice at all to him.'

With them looking over his shoulder, he sent a final and extremely firm text to Gentoku, telling him not to contact him again.

* * *

Sento wasn't any less jumpy after that conversation and he continued looking over his shoulder. But Gentoku never appeared. Sento couldn't decide if he was relieved or worried.

Then the next day passed blissfully free of smug biologists. And the next. Sento breathed a deep sigh of relief as he settled down in a comfortable chair at the very rear of the graduate library. 

Misora looked up from her laptop. "What was that for?"

"Hmm? Oh, I'm happy that Gentoku hasn't been pestering me lately. He must have finally gotten the message I'm not interested."

She glanced at him, then shrugged. "Yeah, must be."

"What do you mean?"

"Nothing. Look at the results I got in the last run…"

And Sento lost himself in the joy of their work.

* * *

It was a bunch of little things that added up: a misplaced decimal point, a wobbly base, that patched flywheel, and a widget that wasn't a hazard under normal circumstances, but became dangerous when hurtling across a lab at high speed.

Sento hadn't bothered to clear the room because he was so sure this experiment was that safe. Even worse, his back was turned at the moment everything went wrong and he didn't even _see_ the widget strike Misora's head. He heard the yelling and turned in time to see the blood flowing from her head all over the floor.

It was very red and his brain ticked through the math on how long it would take for exposure to oxygen to turn it brown along with calculations of how much blood was required to fill that particular space on the floor. Meanwhile he heard others yelling and someone was calling for an ambulance and all he could do was stare at Misora, who wasn't moving.

And someone was shaking his shoulders and pulling him away. Sento pushed at them, trying to see what was happening with Misora, unable to sort out who was talking or what they were saying. Finally he made out the words 'call someone?' and he said "Ryuuga. Call Ryuuga." Still craning his neck to see Misora, he fumbled his phone out of his pocket and someone took it.

There were paramedics and they were blocking his view but Sento couldn't get to Misora because someone very strong was holding him, was pulling him out of the room, and he was going to yell at them, but then he realized it was Ryuuga and he couldn't yell at Ryuuga for some reason.

He let Ryuuga drag him away.

* * *

Sento sat on his bed, knees pulled to his chest, staring blankly at the tray in front of him. It had food on it. After a mental struggle, he remembered that Ryuuga had brought it.

He pulled his knees closer and put his forehead down. He didn't move when the door to his apartment opened.

"Damn it," Ryuuga said. "You said you would try to eat."

With effort, Sento lifted his head. "I did?"

"Yes!" Arms crossed, he glared down at him. "I brought you all your favorite foods and you said you would try to eat."

"Oh." Sento blinked, then looked at the tray. That was certainly food that he had enjoyed in the past, but his stomach rolled at the idea of eating something. "I'll try."

"That's what you said half an hour ago."

Sento stared at the tray, then remembered he should respond in some way. "Sorry?"

Ryuuga sighed. "Dude, you need to eat something or you're going to make yourself sick. Misora wouldn't want you hurting yourself over this."

Sento ignored that. "Why are you doing this?"

Ryuuga rolled his eyes. "Because apparently we're friends whether I like it or not."

"But I'm…" Sento felt moisture gather in his eyes.

"You're what? Pushy? Arrogant? Really damn smart? Yeah."

Sento had to swallow several times before he could answer. "So smart I almost got my friend killed."

"Almost doesn't count." Ryuuga dragged a chair up and slumped down in it. "D'you think you're the first person that's happened to?"

Sento stared at him.

Crossing his arms, Ryuuga stared past Sento. "D'you think you're the only person who got careless?"

"Well, no but—"

"I'm a fucking boxer. Or I was."

Sento opened his mouth, realized he had nothing to say, and closed it again.

"We were horsing around, no gloves, no mouth guards, no nothing. We knew better, but it was late and we didn't feel like getting geared up. I thought he was gonna duck. I knew he was gonna duck." Ryuuga burst out of the chair, pacing the room with frenetic movements.

"What happened?" Sento whispered.

"I nearly took out his eye. Coulda pushed bone and cartilage into his brain. He survived, but it was pure luck. You wanna know why I don't have any friends on campus? Because they all hate me after what happened."

"But it was—"

"An accident?" Ryuuga whirled. "You're sitting here blaming yourself for Misora's head wound but you're gonna tell me that me punching my friend was an accident? Gimme a break." With a scowl, he waved at the tray. "Eat it or don't, I don't care." And he stalked out of the apartment, the door slamming closed behind him. 

Hesitantly, Sento reached toward the tray and picked up a bun.

* * *

By the time Ryuuga stomped back in, Sawa in tow, Sento had managed to eat about a third of what was on the tray. Ryuuga eyed Sento for a moment, then nodded and removed the rest of the food.

Sawa sat down on the bed next to him. "Hey," she said softly. "Are you planning to come out any time soon?"

Sento shivered all over at the thought.

"We've tracked down your professors and you've got a few days leeway. Even Dr. Nanba, although we had to bring in the dean to get _him_ to agree."

Sento couldn't help cracking a tiny smile at that.

"But you're going to have to come out sometime."

"Not if I quit. I'll work from my computer instead. I'll do something else. Programming or something." His voice sounded old and querulous. 

"Bullshit!" Ryuuga yelled from the other room.

Sawa sighed, rubbing her forehead. "We're not going to let you give up on your degree like this. Not because of an accident. Accidents _happen_."

"If I quit, there won't be any more accidents."

Sawa glared at him for a long moment. "So you're okay with Kazumi Sawatari taking over your experiment, then?"

Sento's jaw dropped. "What?"

"Well, if you're not—"

"That egotistical grease-head?" Sento nearly fell as he staggered to his feet. "As if I'd let him within a mile of my work. He'll ruin everything! Who the hell told you that he was going to take over?"

From where he leaned against the refrigerator, Ryuuga said, "Misora."

Sento whirled to stare at him, swaying slightly.

Sawa laughed. "Misora told us that if you didn't show signs of recovering, we should tell you that Kazumi was going to take over for you."

"Looks like she was right," Ryuuga said.

Sitting down heavily on the bed, Sento stared at the two of them, who looked back at him with near-identical smugness. "I…"

Sawa patted his knee. "You need to forgive yourself." She glanced over her shoulder at Ryuuga. "Both of you do."

Ryuuga stared. "What?"

"You need to forgive yourself for what happened to your friend two years ago. It was a stupid accident."

"You…knew?"

"Hmmph," she said. "Of course I did. I looked you up the first time Sento pointed you out. Misora also remembered the story."

"But…" Ryuuga took a step back.

"Don't be ridiculous." Sawa snorted. "If we thought you were dangerous, we'd have gotten rid of you immediately."

Sento tried to get rid of the image that provoked, shaking his head.

"Now come on," Sawa said. "We're going to see Misora."

"What?"

"Shower and put on some fresh clothes." Arms crossed, Sawa glared at him until he slowly stood again and went to get clean. 

Sento was a little concerned she might try to follow him into the shower, but either Ryuuga restrained her from supervising or she thought better of it.

* * *

Sawa and Ryuuga practically had to drag Sento to the hospital, but eventually they shoved his back and he stumbled into Misora's room. She held her big stuffed dog under one arm and looked to be dozing.

"Hi?" Sento managed.

Misora opened her eyes, staring when she saw him. Before he could duck, she'd thrown her stuffed dog at him. Dodging, he began to back out of the room, only stopping when he ran into Sawa and Ryuuga, who blocked his exit.

"You idiot!" Misora yelled, before clutching the side of her head.

Sento flinched. She had a perfect right to be angry at him, of course, but…

"Why weren't you here when I woke up?"

Sento blinked. "What?"

"You were supposed to be here when I woke up and wait on me hand and foot as an apology!"

Sento stared at her. Behind him, he could hear the other two laughing at him. "You're…okay?"

"Of course I am. I'll be fine. As soon as they finish running a few more scans to make sure the concussion isn't more serious, they're sending me home." Crossing her arms, she glared at him. "What's the good of having a horrible headache because of an accident if I can't make you take care of me?"

That was such a Misora statement that Sento had to stagger over to the chair next to her bed. "You're okay," he repeated.

"Duh. Now gimme my dog and make yourself useful."

Sento smiled so wide, it felt like his face was going to crack.

* * *

Yawning, Sento fumbled the books he was holding as he found his apartment key in his pocket. He managed not to drop anything as he opened the door but paused halfway through. Had the door already been unlocked or was that his imagination? Ugh, the lack of sleep must be worse than he thought.

With a headshake, Sento dropped the books on the table next to the door as he toed off his shoes.

"Hello, Sento."

Sento almost screamed at the unexpected voice from his darkened room. "What the…?" He peered through the gloom, heart racing with surprise. "What are _you_ doing here?"

"Is it so hard to believe that I missed you?" Soichi asked, lounging on the small couch like he belonged there.

"Yes, it is." How had his ex gotten…oh right, before the breakup, he'd given Soichi a key to the place because he'd thought maybe they…yeah.

Standing, Soichi strolled toward him. "Well, I did miss you. There may have been others, but you were always the hottest."

Sento snorted. "A booty call? No thanks." Tired of drama, he reached over and flipped on the light switch in time to see the irritated expression on Soichi's face. "You can move right along and find someone else. This is a college campus and you're not that old, it shouldn't be too difficult to find another naïve kid to fuck over."

Smirking, Soichi took another step closer. "But that's too much work when you're right here and I already know how to turn you on."

"Go away. I'm not interested." Sento sighed as he straightened the books he'd dropped on the table, waiting for Soichi to leave.

Sento gasped as Soichi instead grabbed his shoulder and whirled him around. "Don't turn away from me," Soichi growled.

"What the fuck?" Sento tried to push Soichi off, but the other man grabbed his wrists and pushed him against the wall. "Seriously, what the fuck?"

Soichi crowded closer, rubbing his body against Sento's. "You don't get to decide when I'm done. I do."

A trickle of fear started to crawl up Sento's spine. "Hey, this isn't…don't do this." Every place their bodies were touching felt slimy and he squirmed to try and get away.

"Admit it. I know you haven't found someone as good as me either."

"What are you—wait, were you watching me?"

"Of course," Soichi said like it should have been obvious. "Why do you think Gentoku finally stopped bothering you?"

Sento froze, the trickle of fear becoming a flood. "What did you—"

"Just gave him a little warning. But I think I might have to have a serious talk with Ryuuga. I don't like how he's looking at you."

At the thought of a threat to Ryuuga, Sento started struggling in earnest, but Soichi was just enough taller and stronger to keep him against the wall. Sento felt panic wash over him. "How did I not know you're a psychopath?"

"You're so dramatic," Soichi said with a sigh. "You wanted Gentoku to go away so I made him go away. And Ryuuga's dragging you down. You should be thanking me for watching out for you."

"Thanking you? I just want you to get the hell out of my apartment!"

The door beside them burst open as Ryuuga came in, yelling over his shoulder down the hall. "Hurry up, Sawa. We don't have all night." He turned to speak to Sento, freezing as he saw Soichi there, his face turning to a blank mask, eyes darting between them.

"Go away," Soichi said, sounding pleasant if you didn't know him. "We're a little busy here."

Sento couldn't seem to catch his breath but his lips shaped one word: Help.

Ryuuga's blank face changed to an emotion Sento had never seen him display: pure and honest fury. His fist came back and lashed out with lightning speed, slamming into Soichi so hard that his entire body vibrated as he was knocked halfway across the room. 

Sento heard Soichi slump against the wall and onto to the floor and stay there. Sento wrapped his arms around his waist, shaking slightly, and then Ryuuga was in front of him, gently running his hands over Sento as if to make sure he was all there. Sento noted absently that Ryuuga's touch didn't feel slimy at all. "Are you okay?" Ryuuga asked, voice hoarse.

Sento nodded. "Yeah. Thanks."

Ryuuga stared into his eyes, chest heaving, then shook his head sharply before grabbing Sento's head and kissing him. It only took Sento a moment before he surged forward into the kiss.

The apartment door opened again and Sawa came through, stopping to stare at them. "Well, if you two are busy, I can come back later."

Sento pulled back reluctantly, holding onto Ryuuga's shoulders, afraid he would run. "Well, we do have some other business first." He glanced over at Soichi on the floor.

Sawa let out a tiny shriek. "What is—wait, that's your ex, isn't it? What was he—" She stopped, staring at Ryuuga and Sento.

"He attacked me," Sento said, holding the wobble in his voice down as much as he could. "Ryuuga knocked him out with one punch."

"One punch," Sawa repeated, glaring at Soichi's unconscious body. "He took the bastard out with one punch and _I missed it_. Oh my god, I've got to call Misora!"

Sento felt hysterical laughter bubble in his chest as Sawa yanked her phone out and dialed Misora, babbling into the phone about missing Ryuuga's one punch. Taking a breath, he turned back to Ryuuga, who was trying to back away. "Where do you think you're going?"

"Uh, I shouldn't have—I'm sorry—"

"What are you apologizing for?" Sento asked, frowning.

Ryuuga's hand touched his own lips. "I…"

"Wait, are you apologizing for kissing me?" Sento shook his shoulders lightly. "Are you kidding? I've been trying to get you to kiss me for months now."

Ryuuga stared. Then blinked. Then stared some more. Then blinked again. "Oh."

"I'd decided you were asexual. Wait, you're not asexual? I mean, it's okay if you are."

Ryuuga shook his head slowly. "No. I just like to keep my private life private."

Slowly pulling on Ryuuga's shoulders, Sento started to smile. "So you're not asexual and…you're interested in me?"

With a scowl, Ryuuga stared up at the ceiling. "Yes," he said eventually.

"I can't begin to tell you how glad I am to hear that."

Behind them, Sawa cleared her throat. "Not to break up this lovely moment, but there's still the matter of the unconscious guy on your floor."

Sento sighed. Nothing but drama in his life. But he looked at Ryuuga, who was glaring balefully at the unconscious Soichi and he started to grin. Drama, but hey, sometimes something good came out of it.

\--almost the end--


	2. Epilogue

Sento's triumphal moment was ruined by sad reality as he leaned against the wall. Everything had looked so bright a minute ago, but now he was stuck with his asshole of an ex on the floor. He made the mistake of turning to look at Soichi and his legs weakened as he realized how close a call he'd had.

Slowly, his legs gave out and he slid down the wall to sit on the floor. Ryuuga was there in a moment, sitting next to him, a warm solid presence that kept him from fading. Sento inched closer and Ryuuga put his arm around Sento's shoulders, which made the shivering that Sento hadn't even noticed stop. 

Misora arrived and Sento managed to wave in her general direction. She shot him a worried glance, then huddled with Sawa. They turned and gestured to Ryuuga, who gently let go of Sento to engage in whispered conversation with them.

Sento knew he should probably be participating. He should probably care what they were going to do, but it was so nice to just rest for now. If only it wasn't so cold all alone against the wall. He rubbed his arms, trying to warm up.

Then Ryuuga was there again, holding him. Sento leaned gratefully against him, letting the warmth seep back in. Gradually his eyes slipped closed. 

At some point, he vaguely recalled being dragged over to the bed and tucked in. When his source of warmth tried to move away, Sento reached out and grabbed, pulling until it was next to him, then went back to sleep.

He awoke all at once hours later, finding Ryuuga asleep next to him, drooling slightly on the pillow. It was just as great a sight as he'd thought it would be. Propping himself up on an elbow, Sento leaned over and whispered in Ryuuga's ear. "Ryuuuuuuga."

Ryuuga mumbled and shifted.

"Ryuuga, wake uuuuup."

Eyes shooting open, Ryuuga rolled away so fast he almost fell off the other side. For a moment his eyes darted around before falling on Sento.

"I'm sorry," Sento said, wrapping his arms around himself. "I shouldn't have assum—"

"Stop." Ryuuga rubbed his eyes, then scooted back toward Sento. "C'mere." He held out his arms. "I was just surprised."

Sento hesitated, then lay back down, head on Ryuuga's shoulder and Ryuuga kissed the top of his head. They lay for a while like that, but eventually Sento started to have the reaction that might be expected when he finally had his crush in bed with him. He shifted, trying to get comfortable without giving anything away.

Ryuuga took a deep breath, but didn't speak. Eventually, Sento gave in to curiosity and tilted his head back to look at him. Face red, Ryuuga looked like he was thinking hard.

Sento was helpless in the face of such adorable behavior and he rolled slightly so he could kiss Ryuuga. What started as a gentle kiss turned quickly into a serious make-out session of tongues and teeth. It took quite a few contortions to keep from making it obvious how turned-on he was by this.

Eventually Ryuuga pulled back, unable to look Sento in the eyes. "Um…" he said.

"What?"

"Do you want…uh, how do you…" He trailed off.

Sento couldn't help a slightly hysterical giggle. "Are you trying to ask me what position I prefer in bed?"

Ryuuga got impossibly redder and tried to pull away. "If you're going to make fun of me—"

"No no, I'm sorry." Sento kissed him gently. "Sorry, that was shitty of me. It's just been a long day. Long month. Long year. Whatever."

Ryuuga nodded, then said diffidently. "Yeah. So, uh, do you want to…be on top?"

Sento wasn't quite sure what to say. That wasn't exactly the enthusiasm he preferred in a partner, but he didn't think Ryuuga was precisely _opposed_. He threw out a trial balloon: "We don't have to. I mean, there's lots of stuff we could do. Or you could be on top."

That finally got Ryuuga to look directly at him, eyes wide. "What?"

"I only want to top you if that's really want you want. Not because you think it's what _I_ want."

Ryuuga had to think about that and Sento made a mental note to track down Ryuuga's previous male sexual partners and punch them. After all, Ryuuga had done that for him, so he should return the favor.

After a long moment, Ryuuga met his gaze again, his breathing speeding up and his jaw tight with nerves. "I want to be inside you. If…if that's okay."

"Fuck yeah." Sento had to take a few deep breaths. "I'm not sure we're going to make it that far today. But yeah, I want that. A lot." Just the thought of Ryuuga fingering him, pushing into him, was nearly enough stimulation to put Sento over the edge. 

They kissed again, this time with their hands roaming further down. Sento finally let himself run his hand down Ryuuga's taut stomach and over the bulge in his pants. "Off," Ryuuga panted, squirming at the touch. 

Sento blinked and started to pull back, then realized what Ryuuga meant, and unbuttoned his own pants, yanking down the zipper to Ryuuga's, and trying to pull off both pairs simultaneously. They finally managed it after elbowing each other a few times. But it was so very much worth it, Sento thought, as he tugged Ryuuga's underwear out of the way. It all felt so good.

Yeah, it had felt good with Gentoku and Soichi, too, but nothing like this. Nothing like the feeling of touching someone he knew so well and that knew him so well. Nothing like knowing just how much Ryuuga cared about him. What he would do for him.

Sento hadn't entirely understood how unbalanced his relationship with Soichi had been. How much he'd let the other man dictate his actions and feelings without getting anything in return.

Ryuuga rolled on top of him and Sento gasped at the slide of muscles against him, at the evidence that Ryuuga was just as into this as he was. 

Neither of them could seem to figure out what to do first and Sento gasped again as Ryuuga licked his nipple. "Yeah," he said. It was as coherent as he could manage, but Ryuuga seemed to get the idea, sucking and licking as Sento tried to not grab his head and hold it there forever.

Sento retaliated by tilting his head and gently nipping at the arm that held Ryuuga up. It tasted as good as he thought it would and he kept going, pushing himself up until he could latch onto Ryuuga's neck, at which point Ryuuga's arm collapsed and he landed on top of Sento.

They both gasped at that and gave up on playing. Rolling off to the side, Ryuuga grabbed both of them in a strong hand, jacking them off with confidence. It was very sexy confidence, Sento thought as he held on to Ryuuga's shoulders and tangled their legs together. 

Sento groaned and came first and as he shook his way through, he pulled Ryuuga into a messy open-mouth kiss until he felt the warmth of Ryuuga coming as well. They were sticky and it was going to be gross in a bit, but Sento didn't care. He grabbed a wad of tissues from beside his bed and they dabbed at the mess before giving up.

It took some wiggling and shifting until they found a comfortable position to catch their breath, but Sento absently kissed Ryuuga's shoulder, since it was so conveniently in front of him.

"So this is a thing," Ryuuga said. "You and me." He sounded very casual, which Sento knew meant he wasn't at all.

Savoring that knowledge, he stretched his neck until he could kiss Ryuuga on the lips. "You and me is definitely a thing."

"This wasn't a thank you or something like that."

"It was not a one-time thank you. I intend to have you in my bed as often as I can. And have breakfast with you in the morning. And hopefully dinner at night."

"Assuming I can drag you out of the lab."

Sento conceded the point. "Assuming you can drag me out of the lab. And we will do all the disgusting sappy things that boyfriends do and make Sawa and Misora roll their eyes."

Ryuuga's arm tightened around Sento's back and his voice roughened. "Sounds like a plan."

"My plans are the best plans." Sento nodded firmly. 

Ryuuga sounded like he wanted to argue, but instead he leaned forward and kissed Sento instead, which was totally a win-win situation.

\--really the end--


End file.
